Meeting Remus
by something-like-love
Summary: Five year old Nymphadora Tonks loves it when her cousin Siri visits, and this time he's brought friends...


**A/N: I wrote this in like, thirty minutes, and thought it was a cute little fic, so I posted it. Yeah, I know, I'm cool.**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, that's right, I own Harry Potter. And, while I'm at it, I own the moon too. And Orlando Bloom.**

"Mummy, when is Siri coming?" Nymphadora Tonks whined, peering out the rain streaked window.

"Any moment, dear, now _calm down_," her mother Andromeda ordered while supervising the floating butchers knife as it sliced their dinner.

Huffing, Nymphadora jumped down from the window sill and went to her room. That was the problem with grown-ups, she thought, they say 'any moment' and it takes five hours. She smoothed her bedcovers over again, making sure that her bed was nice and neat. It was all her five year old mind could do not to immediately begin jumping on the flawless, flowered cover. She had made sure her room looked extra nice today, because when Siri had sent her a letter (her very own!) he had told her he was bringing friends. She didn't want to disappoint Siri's friends with a messy bedroom.

Suddenly, the doorbell buzzed downstairs. "I'LL GET IT!" Nymphadora yelled, running down the stairs as fast as she could. Before she got to the door, however, she stopped, made sure her new yellow dress was clean and her pigtails intact, then flung open the door, throwing herself into the dripping arms of her cousin.

"Hey, hey, what have we here?" his familiar voice laughed. "Andi told me you were growing, but this is unbelievable!"

Nymphadora smiled and pulled away, not caring that her dress was soaked through. "Siri!" she squealed happily, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the house.

"Siri? That's a new one," said a different voice that rang with laughter, and Nymphadora realized she hadn't paid any attention to Siri's friends. She hesitated, uncertain. What should she do? She couldn't hug them- she didn't know them like she knew Siri. She had watched an old movie the night before, one where the ladies always curtsied, and thought she might try that. She pulled up the corners of her dress and tried to squat down a bit, but it went wrong in the middle somewhere and she toppled over to the floor.

Thankfully, Siri pulled her up and set her on his hip. "That's my Nymphie, who trips over air!" he said fondly. Nymphadora, unfazed from her fall, turned to see his friends. The first stood behind him, with dark, messy hair, hazel eyes, and a big grin. She decided she liked him, because he seemed to be the one teasing Siri about his name. She could never tease Siri, she was too little.

The other person hung farther back. He was tall and lanky, with sandy hair and amber eyes. Nymphadora thought she could see a faint scar running across his cheek. For some reason, she felt the urge to reach out and hug him.

"Oi, earth to Nymphie!" Siri called, tearing her gaze away from the man with the scar. "This is James Potter," he gestured to the dark haired man, "and Remus Lupin. Peter, my other friend, had to stay home with dragon pox, you see-" but Nymphadora's eyes were already back on Remus. _Remus,_ she thought, _what a nice name._ I sounded vaguely familiar, actually, like something she'd heard awhile ago. She thought hard, then remembered a night, several weeks before, when her father had been reading to her a book of fairy tales.

_"And the children's name's were Romulus and Remus, two baby boy's raised by the most dreadful kind of wolves. Werewolves, they were called, who did their dark breeding in the night. Bitten at dusk the children grew to fight and fight again, each who changed form one horrid night, the night of the full moon."_

"Remus," Nymphadora called suddenly. He looked startled to have been addressed.

"Yes, Nymphadora?" he asked softly. She made a face.

"I hate that name. Siri calls me Nymphie, and you can too." Looking surprised, he nodded.

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Are you a werewolf?"

There was a stunned silence. Remus' eyes widened in shock, and James' mouth almost hit the floor. Siri alone remained calm, slapping his thigh and saying,

"Well, Moony, she's already smarter than half the girls you date!"

Nymphadora blushed, and tried to explain. "It's just- Daddy read me a book about... about werewolves named Romulus and Remus and I thought..." she broke off with a grimace. "Sorry, did I hurt your feelings?"

Remus, to her surprise, grinned, and said in a laughing tone,

"Yes, Miss Tonks, I am a werewolf. Good work."

She looked at him more closely now. She saw more faded scars running across his face and neck. Unconsciously, she reached out to touch them.

"Did other werewolves do that to you?" she asked, tracing one on his arm with her finger. He smiled sadly.

"No. I did that to myself."

She gaped in shock. "Did you, really?" He nodded solemnly. She felt a surge of anger well up in her.

"Well, Mummy says they make a potion for back aches! Why can't they make one so werewolves stop hurting themselves?"

Remus smiled placidly, as if he had heard the question a million times.

"That, Miss Tonks, is a very good question."

Nymphadora Tonks Lupin sat on her purple couch (she had chosen it herself), doing paperwork. It had been a boring day to end all boring day at the Auror office, so the Department of Experimental Charms had asked some of their staff to help out with paperwork. Expecting a challenge, she had accepted, but did she honestly need to know that if you said "Hazzle frazzle" thirteen times and poured wine into a sliver goblet, you could create a tooth? Really, this was just boring.

_"Name: David A. Gulch_

_Age: 27_

_Occupation: Gringotts jewel counter_

_Why your charm could have an impact on society: my charm has been tested twenty times with fantastic results. It stops a werewolf's destructive behavior while transformed..."_

Nymphadora blinked. No way. It couldn't be. She read it again. And again. And again.

"Ha ha!" she laughed. "This is brilliant! Oi, Remus! Come here! You won't believe it!"


End file.
